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Climate Policy Watch

Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) has co-sponsored carbon tax bills and also hopes to be the ranking member on the new House select climate committee, though he faces opposition from a long-time critic of carbon controls.

Observers are increasingly expecting that any deal on changes to vehicle greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards is unlikely before the Trump administration finalizes an aggressive rollback of the rules, suggesting debate over the issue will only get more acrimonious -- not less -- in the coming months.

EPA is considering easing limits on municipal solid waste landfills to allow for the addition of liquids to so-called wet and bioreactor landfills as a way of speeding waste degradation, but the agency is grappling with how to deal with increases in the emissions rate of methane, the potent greenhouse gas, and other landfill gases that would also result.

Seven energy-related labor unions are urging Congress to revisit the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade climate bill that passed the House in 2009 in lieu of both a carbon tax and a so-called “Green New Deal” that are gaining political traction, putting further strain on an already divided Democratic caucus.

New findings of a sharp spike in domestic greenhouse gas emission levels are clashing with the oil and gas sector's argument that increased use of natural gas, a lower carbon fuel source than coal, is an effective climate strategy, an argument that Trump administration officials have generally echoed.

Democratic states and environmental groups are urging EPA to drop its proposal to dramatically extend the deadline for states to develop compliance plans for EPA's rule to limit landfills' methane emissions, arguing that the proposed extension amounts to an unlawful effort to stay the standards.

Biodiesel producers in new legal filings are claiming EPA must assess the impact on its renewable fuel standard (RFS) from several RFS waivers the agency has granted to small refiners, faulting the Trump administration for ignoring what the producers say are adverse consequences such as hindering the program's biofuels production goals.